Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/36018 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 4606
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
This paper considers the identification and estimation of an extension of Roy's model (1951) of occupational choice, which includes a non-pecuniary component in the decision equation and allows for uncertainty on the potential outcomes. This framework is well suited to various economic contexts, including educational and sectoral choices, or migration decisions. We focus in particular on the identification of the non-pecuniary component under the condition that at least one variable affects the selection probability only through potential earnings, that is under the opposite of the usual exclusion restrictions used to identify switching regressions models and treatment effects. Point identification is achieved if such variables are continuous, while bounds are obtained otherwise. As a result, the distribution of the ex ante treatment effects can be point or set identified without any usual instruments. We propose a three-stages semiparametric estimation procedure for this model, which yields root-n consistent and asymptotically normal estimators. We apply our results to the educational context, by providing new evidence from French data that non-pecuniary factors are a key determinant of higher education attendance decisions.
Subjects: 
Roy model
nonparametric identification
exclusion restrictions
schooling choices
ex ante returns to schooling
JEL: 
C14
C25
J24
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
589.94 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.